Saudi Arabia: Demand for cement is forecast to fall in 2019. A report by Al Rajhi Capital expects this due to reduced government spending on infrastructure projects and growing construction costs, according to Trade Arabia. Cement producers will focus on pricing rather than volume in this environment. Exports are also expected to increase. Local sales volumes of cement decreased by 13% year-on-year in 2018.

China: Japan’s Kawasaki Heavy Industries has delivered two 220t/hr CK Mills to Jiande Conch Cement via Anhui Conch Kawasaki Energy Conservation Equipment Manufacturing (CKM), a joint venture between Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Anhui Conch. Kawasaki is handling design and operation-related technical guidance, whereas CKM is in charge of manufacturing and delivery. The mills have a table track diameter of 4900mm, 5100kW motors and four rollers. No value for the order has been disclosed.

Kenya: Firms interested in buying out troubled ARM Cement have until 28 February 2019 to make final offers to the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the company’s administrator. PwC says 25 companies have so far expressed their interest in taking over ARM. 23 have signed non-disclosure agreements that allowed them to receive additional information about the cement manufacturer. By mid-December, PwC reported at total of 14 non-binding offers (NBOs).

“We reviewed these NBOs and shortlisted a number of parties whose offers best suited the objectives of the envisaged transaction to proceed to the next round of conducting their due diligence, with a view to submitting binding offers,” reported PwC.

While the administrators did not name the shortlisted companies, they are believed to include Nigeria’s Dangote Cement and Oman’s Raysut Cement, which went public with its US$101m buyout offer.

Chile: Cementos Melón ended 2018 with a 9% growth in profits to US$13.7m. Its net income rose by 4.5% to US$289m. Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 2.9% to US$43.2m.

Nigeria: Ashaka Cement, a subsidiary of Lafarge Africa, is set to inaugurate a 16MW power plant project in a bid to improve the reliablilty of its energy supply. Managing Director Rabiu Abdullah Umar said that the company would invest US$30.5m in the project. “We are helping to remove ourselves from the (national) demand for energy and providing our own solution,” he said. “This means a minimum of 16MW of electricity will now become available to the public grid for the people in the region to enjoy.”

New Zealand: Fletcher Building is expecting to declare lower earnings in the half year to 31 December 2018 due to a regional slowdown, particularly in Australia. Its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) for the six month period was around 10% lower than the same period of the 2017-2018 financial year. It is expected to be in the range of US$432-467m.

In a report Fletcher Building said, “While the company continues to target a result at the top end of this range, it is prudent at this stage in the year to highlight that the 2019 financial year EBIT will be impacted by the outage at the Golden Bay Cement plant, the slowdown in the Australian residential market and the reduction in land development earnings compared to last year.”

India: KCP has commenced commercial cement at the new 1.7Mt/yr line at its Muktyala plant in Andhra Pradesh. With this expansion, the total capacity of the plant has reached 4.3Mt/yr. The company has also started up its 0.5Mt/yr grinding plant project in Naidupeta, Nellore District, Andhra Pradesh.

Russia: Eurocement has signed a deal to buy 1000 gas-powered vehicles from Kamaz. The framework agreement will run until 2022. It was signed at the Russian Investment Forum in Sochi. No value for the deal has been disclosed.

The cement producer has also signed a memorandum of cooperation with Rosavtodor, the Federal Roads Agency, to increase the use of concrete in road construction. The organisations will hold a discussion on regulatory standards for the use of mineral binders in road construction and Rosavtodor will consider a pilot project.

Italy: Cementir Holding’s sales revenue fell by 4.2% in 2018 on a like-for-like basis due to poor performance in Egypt and Norway. Military operations in the Sinai impacted production in Egypt between February and May 2018 and bad weather in Norway affected the first quarter. However, it noted good results in Malaysia, Belgium and China.

On an adjusted basis its revenue rose by 4.9% to Euro1.2bn from Euro1.14bn. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 7.1% to Euro239m from Euro223m. Grey and white cement sales volumes fell by 4.4% to 9.8Mt from 10.3Mt. Ready-mixed concrete volumes fell slightly to 4.9Mm³.

Spain: FYM-HeidelbergCement plans to invest Euro2.5m in a new 4900m² plot at the Port of Malaga. The company will use the unit to export cement and clinker, according to the La Opinión de Málaga newspaper. At present the cement producer exports 0.5Mt/yr of clinker to markets in Africa, South America and Europe. FYM-HeidelbergCement operates an integrated cement plant in Malaga.